Simcoe's Raid

Simcoe's Raid (28-29 October 1779) was a raid undertaken by the Tory Queen's Rangers of Major John Graves Simcoe against central New Jersey during the American Revolutionary War. The British burnt Continental Army supplies and rescued some prisoners, but Simcoe was captured and three of his men killed, while only one American soldier was killed.

History
On 28 October 1779, Major John Graves Simcoe ferried 87 Queen's Rangers troops from Staten Island in New York to Perth Amboy in New Jersey, with Somerset County loyalist Jim Stewart guiding his men along the Raritan River. A unit of British regulars landed at South Amboy to prepare an ambush in coordination with Simcoe's rangers, planning to capture a Continental Army Major, ambush New Jersey militia, and burn boats at Raritan. Simcoe and his men posed as Henry Lee's dragoons, as both units wore green jackets, and Simcoe passed himself off as a patriot when they met a band of armed militia at the Frelinghuysen Tavern in Bound Brook. However, a bystander recognized Simcoe as a Tory and sent a rider to warn Governor William Livingston in New Brunswick. Simcoe's men did not find the Continental Major at the Van Horne house as planned, and they decided to continue on to Raritan, where they blasted 18 flatboats with grenades and set them on fire, preventing George Washington from attacking Staten Island. Simcoe also had his men burn down the 58-year-old Dutch Reformed Church in Finderne, as the Continentals stored additional equipment there. On the night of the 28th, the British raiders rescued three loyalist prisoners from Somerset Court House on the Millstone River. Simcoe had the court house burnt down, and two adjacent houses were also set on fire. Militia around New Brunswick found out about the location of the loyalists from the fire, and militiamen under Charles Armand Tuffin ambushed Simcoe under on the morning of the 29th. Simcoe was unhorsed and knocked unconscious, and three loyalists and one patriot militiaman were killed. Simcoe was held as a prisoner in New Brunswick, and security had to be increased around him to prevent angry townspeople from lynching him.